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Abstract In 2021, the US Surgeon General issued a national advisory citing an epidemic of isolation and loneliness. Even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately half of people in the US reported experiencing measurable levels of loneliness. Despite localized and select cross-sectional studies highlighting even higher increases in isolation/loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, additional research is needed, particularly for youth and young adults. This work examines patterns of isolation/loneliness across the US from 2016 to 2022 among individuals aged 24 and younger. Our study leverages a unique dataset, Crisis Text Line, which provides complete spatiotemporal coverage of crisis conversations in the US. We conducted a geospatial analysis using Kuldroff’s Space–Time SatScan to identify statistically significant clustering of elevated isolation/loneliness-related conversations. The statistical significance of spatiotemporal clusters was determined using Monte Carlo simulations (n = 9999). Results demonstrated local relative risk as high as 1.47 in high-risk populations in Southern, Midwest, and Atlantic states, indicating areas where the actual case count is 147% of the expected cases (pvalue < 0.01) from May to July 2020. Results also identified co-occurrence of isolation/loneliness and other crises concerns, including depression/sadness, anxiety, and multiple suicidality indicators, with higher rates among racial/ethnic minority, transgender and gender diverse, and younger individuals. This work makes a unique contribution to the literature by elucidating spatiotemporal disparities in isolation/loneliness among young people, providing much-needed knowledge as to where future public health interventions are immediately needed. 

Objective:The COVID-19 pandemic has put unprecedented stress on essential workers and their children. Limited cross-sectional research has found increases in mental health conditions from workload, reduced income, and isolation among essential workers. Less research has been conducted on children of essential workers. We examined trends in the crisis response of essential workers and their children from April 2020 through August 2021. Methods:We investigated the impact during 3 periods of the pandemic on workers and their children using anonymized data from the Crisis Text Line on crisis help-seeking texts for thoughts of suicide or active suicidal ideation (desire, intent, capability, time frame), abuse (emotional, physical, sexual, unspecified), anxiety/stress, grief, depression, isolation, bullying, eating or body image, gender/sexual identity, self-harm, and substance use. We used generalized estimating equations to study the longitudinal change in crisis response across the later stages of the pandemic using adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for worker status and crisis outcomes. Results:Results demonstrated higher odds of crisis outcomes for thoughts of suicide (aOR = 1.06; 95% CI, 1.00-1.12) and suicide capability (aOR = 1.14; 95% CI, 1.02-1.27) among essential workers than among nonessential workers. Children of essential workers had higher odds of substance use than children of nonessential workers (aOR = 1.33; 95% CI, 1.08-1.65), particularly for Indigenous American children (aOR = 2.76; 95% CI, 1.35-5.36). Essential workers (aOR = 1.17; 95% CI, 1.07-1.27) and their children (aOR = 1.18; 95% CI, 1.07-1.30) had higher odds of grief than nonessential workers and their children. Conclusion:Essential workers and their children had elevated crisis outcomes. Immediate and low-cost psychologically supportive interventions are needed to mitigate the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on these populations.